WhatNow

WhatNow is a web application built with Laravel 5.8 and Vue.js, designed to provide a disaster preparedness guide. This document includes steps to install and configure the project in your development environment.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following tools are installed on your system:

• PHP (version 7.4):

  php -v

• Composer (dependency manager for PHP):

  composer --version

• Node.js (recommended version 12 or higher):

  node -v

• npm (Node.js package manager):

  npm -v

• MySQL (version 5.7 or higher):

  mysql --version

Project Installation

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/YourUsername/WhatNow.git
   cd WhatNow

2. Install PHP Dependencies

   composer install

3. Install JavaScript Dependencies

   npm install

4. Set Up Environment

   • Copy the .env example file and configure it as your environment file:

     cp .env.example .env

   • Generate an application key for Laravel:

     php artisan key:generate

5. Database Configuration

   • Create a MySQL database named homestead.
   • Open the .env file and update your database credentials:

   DB_CONNECTION=mysql
   DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
   DB_PORT=3306
   DB_DATABASE=homestead
   DB_USERNAME=your_username
   DB_PASSWORD=your_password
   

6. Run Database Migrations

   php artisan migrate

   Optional: If you would like to populate the database with initial sample data, you can run the database seeder command:

   php artisan db:seed

7. Compile Frontend Assets

   • For development:

     npm run hot

   • For production:

     npm run production

8. Start the Development Server

   php artisan serve

Development Commands

Command	Description
php artisan serve	Starts the local development server
npm run hot	Compiles assets and hot-reloads changes
npm run production	Compiles assets for production
php artisan migrate	Runs database migrations
php artisan db:seed	Seeds the database with sample data
php artisan make:model	Creates a new Eloquent model
php artisan make:controller	Creates a new controller

Documentation

• Laravel 5.8 Documentation
• Vue.js Documentation
• Bootstrap 4 Documentation
• BootstrapVue Docs

Troubleshooting

1. Verify Dependencies: Ensure all dependencies are properly installed.
2. Environment File: Check that the .env file is correctly set up.
3. Dependency Conflicts: If issues arise, run composer update and npm install to resolve them.
4. Database Connection: Verify that the database credentials in the .env file are correct.
5. Migrations: If migrations fail, check the database connection and run php artisan migrate:refresh.
6. Frontend Assets: If assets are not compiling, run npm run production or npm run hot to recompile them.
7. Development Server: If the server fails to start, check the port and run php artisan serve again.

Testing

Run tests using phpunit. (Note: Tests may require review and adjustments to function properly.)

./vendor/bin/phpunit